1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automatic vehicle wash systems and more particularly to a reciprocating gantry-type wash system designed to efficiently wash the front and rear of the vehicle as well as the sides thereof.
2. Background of the Invention
There are many types of vehicle wash system adapted to readily clean a vehicle without the need of hand scrubbing. One basic form of wash system is merely to use a wand through which high-pressure water is emitted against the side of the vehicle with the wand normally being manipulated by an individual washing his or her own vehicle. More automated systems utilize the same concept of emitting jet sprays of water against the side of a vehicle but through use of an array of such nozzles disposed along both sides and across the top of the vehicle. Such arrays are sometimes adapted to move in a loop around the vehicle with the vehicle remaining in place while others move relative to the vehicle in a straight line along the length of the vehicle. In either event, the object is to expose the entire exterior surface of the vehicle to the jet sprays of water to remove dirt, scum and other road debris from the surface of the vehicle.
More elaborate vehicle wash systems which are generally more efficient in cleaning the exterior surface of the vehicle have been referred to as tunnel-type car wash systems wherein a vehicle is advanced through a series of stages spaced along a linear path with different operations occurring at the various stages as the vehicle is advanced through the tunnel. The various stages would include pre-soaking, rinsing, scrubbing, waxing, and other similar operations. Generally, in a tunnel-type wash system, a fabric curtain, commonly referred to as a mitter curtain, defines one of the washing stages with the mitter curtain being comprised of a plurality of strips of felt or other similar material which are rocked back and forth along the path of movement of the vehicle so that as the vehicle is moved thereby, the felt strips will abrasively scrub and remove dirt and other debris from the surface of the vehicle. While this scrubbing action normally takes place in combination with a soapy water to minimize scratching the paint on the vehicle, it has been determined that repeated usage of such a cleaning system has a detrimental effect on the paint in that minor scratches are imparted to the surface, either by the felt fabric itself or by the granular dirt particles that the curtain removes from the surface of the vehicle.
As a result of the detrimental abrasion of a mitter curtain on the paint of a vehicle, many vehicle owners prefer not to use tunnel-type wash systems and would rather prefer to use a system wherein water is merely directed at the surface of the vehicle in a high-pressure stream to remove dirt and other material from the surface thereof. Of these types of wash systems, the most common is what may be referred to as a reciprocating gantry-type system wherein a framework carrying spray nozzles disposed along an inverted U-shaped frame is moved reciprocally over the car to spray cleaning fluid thereon. It will be appreciated, however, that with such systems it is difficult to wash the front and rear of the vehicle as the nozzles through which the cleaning fluid is dispensed are usually directed perpendicularly to the line of movement of the apparatus and therefore are not directed at the front and rear of the vehicle.
While some systems have been devised for moving the sprays along a curved track in front and behind the vehicle, such systems are less than desirable in that they are normally mechanically more complex and require that the system be suspended from an overhead location rather than supported on the same surface as is the vehicle.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a car wash system of the type wherein a gantry-like apparatus is reciprocated over the vehicle but including a system for thoroughly cleaning the front and rear of the vehicle as well as the top and sides.